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Topic: 2017 (Read 20578 times)

Last evening i was just getting ready to start my fire & heat up my dinner & get into my nightgown for the evening when a neighbour dropped in.She had been calling me but i was on the phone.She was doing a house check & found an Eagle standing on the deck overlooking the ravine.She sat & enjoyed the sighting, did her work, Eagle was still there, she realized something must be wrong.The Eagle sort of stumbled from the deck onto a stump/Birdhouse next to it, then kinda stumbled to the ground next to a Tree not far away.The Eagle was still there when she left & so she called me from home.We gathered a team of her family & wren & our gear & headed back there.The Eagle was still in the same spot.i took some assessment fotos to start.The whiteness on the beak sure caught our attention.

april 21 2017 18:57 - possibly injured Eagle

So.The plan was to have the three people who came with us to carry towels & try to keep the Eagle from running for the deep ravine & pond over to her left.It was a pretty steep bank down to there.wren was going to hide behind the bushes while i sneaked up in plain sight from the Eagle*s left to distract the Eagle & have him watching me & not seeing wren coming at her from behind the bushes.But fright & flight took over & the Eagle bolted, in a stumbly manner that didn*t look right, & was able to open wings, but also not quite right, & catch just enough air to soar away into the ravine.Sigh...One of the family said she saw her soar over to our left into the ravine area.Five of us searched until almost dark but were not able to find this Eagle.We will keep looking.

i was just coasting through my morning routine when the phone rang.Someone had photographed an Eagle hanging on barbed wire near Olsen Farm!Yikes.My heart started pounding.Eagle trapped in barbed wire, flapping & making it worse at my approach, how do you even begin?Cover the head of course, but the barbwire entrapment?i was given knowledgeable advice on what gear to bring - wire cutters, leather gloves, towel for the Eagle*s head, tweezers to pull out the barbs, the horrors i was imagining.i called wren but there was no answer so i cruised by her place.No luck.So i carried on with the gear in the van, still there from the attempted capture friday night.i was supposed to do care giving work today, but they ended up helping me!i got there ahead of everyone & parked off the side of the road & went looking for an Eagle hanging on barb wire.My first find was a Mink hanging on barb wire! i have no idea how this Mink got to be here like this.It sure is not a very nice scenario to ponder.

april 24 2017 10:13 - Mink on barb wire

Next thing i spotted was even MORE amazing.The Eagle from friday night! Standing on the OTHER side of the barb wire fence.Not hanging on barb wire at all!Was there a second Eagle i now needed to find?i flagged down help from a friend driving up the hill from Ford Cove.She was game to help.Then my work couple arrived.We decided this must be the Eagle we are looking for.Where he was friday night & where he was now was actually very close to each other.Perhaps he had gotten trapped stumbling across the road & had gotten himself free again?We all squeezed to the side of the already narrow road & i put my flashers on.The Eagle was still in the same spot.Now this Eagle had a great launch spot again, on top of a huge conglomerate boulder looking down a very steep slope.There was no way to block him from flying away.& this is a STEEP slope, with crumbling ground & piles of rolling round stones.How the heck were we going to be able to capture this guy?When we approach, he will just soar off again.But we decided to try.Two went downhill with towels & tried to distract the Eagle while i climbed under the barb wire & slid down hill with my capture gloves, net & towel.i ended up sitting on my butt & just sliding down.Ouch.& of course the Eagle flopped off & down the slope.But he was in such bad shape that he just face planted & belly flopped & stayed there while one woman with a towel ran down & threw her towel over his head.He turned & opened his beak at us but that was about it.He was done in completely.i was able to reach under him, one side at a time, & grab each leg.Then one friend arranged the towel back over his head while i pulled him up & against my chest.Phew, got him.Now how the heck do we get back up that slope with both hands occupied?If my arms were empty, i would have climbed up on all fours.One friend walked behind me & grabbed my kilt waist & held me going uphill.i finally figured out that if she pushed me from behind at my waist/butt, that was the most helpful.We got up to the barb wire fence!One person got the kennel & opened the door & tucked it up against the fence.Then suddenly Otto was running loose on the road!With the cars whizzing past.Yikes!He was grabbed by the collar & put back in the truck.He was ready to come running down to help me.Someone held up the barb wire & i was able to tuck the Eagle wrapped in a towel under the wire & into the kennel.Then i scritched under the wire myself.Next we needed to get the cover towel out from around the Eagle in the kennel.The poor Eagle was kind of tangled in it & too weak to move.We were finally able to pull the towel out, but the Eagle was facing in with their poor head & neck turned towards us against the side of the kennel, too weak to move.So i braved reaching in there again to straighten him out.He was flat on his belly, legs tucked up underneath him, not moving, but watching us & blinking.Now to get him in to MARS!We drove down to the ferry.We just missed the 11 & there were only two cars in the lineup to ask.The first guy just grunted at me so i moved on.The second man was someone i knew, but he was only going as far as Denman.i stared up the road waiting for more cars to come.We were really early for the noon ferry.& the next ferry after that wasn*t til 2.A large white truck approached, so i walked up the hill like when i am capturing an Eagle, head down & turned away.Then i pounced!Turns out they were two lovely young men on their way to work at a place in Tofino, having just finished some work for the same landowner here!& as luck would have it, they were the very ones who had reported the Eagle, hanging on the barb wire!So we DID have the right Eagle.& they were HAPPY to take the kennel from my van & meet MARS at Buckley Bay.i am SO HAPPY we finally caught this poor Eagle!

What an adventure you had (I remember that area and that is a challenge to climb without having to carry anything) Thanks for all your hard work and you had me in my chair trying to help. Knowing he has Reg in his corner- Best of Luck to the eagle

Oh my dear Booni! You will be getting a halo for sure! If that eagle doesnt make it , they certainly had all the help they could hope for, and then some! and Booni you really should write a book - something like 'the illustrated adventures of an avid eagle watcher!' Have you heard anything about its progress or condition from Reg? Any thoughts about that beak? After all the help reached out for it, I would love to know the eagle makes a good recovery.

Nancy, i don*t know the story about the Mink.i was walking along looking for any barb wire fencing & spotted them way down the slope & zoomed in.i have no idea how the Mink got there, they seemed pretty fresh still but did not seem alive, to me.

i haven*t heard anything back about our Eagle so i called this morning as i also want to organize getting our equipment back.So our poor Eagle died yesterday, sometime.They went in to give him fluids & found him dead.He was in really poor shape, the lightest Eagle they have gotten in in a long time.i asked for Reg to call me when he has time, to fill in any more info he may have gotten from examining him.

Oh my goodness! What a story! And your work to save eagles can be so dangerous! What a brave heroine you are, Booni, and how wonderful others are so willing to help!!! So sad the eagle died, after all the heroic efforts, but at the very least, you know you did your best to help! Thank you for being there! And for taking the extreme effort to save and help the eagle!